Have you always had a passion for painting?
Yes! Painting has been apart of my family for five generations. My mother used the medium of painting, especially portraiture to express herself. One of my late ancestors, Henry Mundy was a renowned portrait artist who painted the landed gentry during the First Settlement in Tasmania in the 1830’s. I began painting myself whilst pregnant with my daughter 18 years ago. I started painting guitars over the years combining music lyrics and paint on instruments to create bespoke moments with layers of family identity for the owner to be handed down to loved ones.
What do you love about painting?
Painting is another outlet for me to release creativity whilst away from the stage. Nothing else really has compared to the magic of live performance except for painting.
What inspires you to paint?
During these unprecedented times and a halt in live music and touring globally, I have been seeking inspiration from past memories, places I have visited and the changing seasons. From my studio window I contemplate these places and things daily. Like a bird in a cafe, I am singing through my brush onto a canvas in lieu of a microphone and an audience. My words are inspired by nature and textiles, using acrylics on canvas or ink and pen on paper. I envisage my works in a boudoir, as part of a rich tapestry ‘something I’d like to wear, or feel between my fingers
Kitsune & Blue Hawaii by Kate Ceberano
Where do you see your abundance of creative talents heading in the future?
My hope is that we can keep the arts alive at a time that feels akin to the dark ages… Perhaps when we come out of this time, we will have a Renaissance again and the world will be singing and painting on every corner! I hope my work will be the graffiti on the street corner or tattooed on the arm of the busker singing her guts out. These are my ‘unsung songs’, they feel lyrical and alive. Often, I’ll go for days in the ‘performance’ of painting, barely eating, speaking, and just doing it. It helps a lot to feel this way as thinking about it seems to disturb my peace and feels less authentic for some reason.
